I haven’t seen the final figures on exhibitors and attendees, but I have to believe both were off a tick from 2009. For certain, booth space was pared substantially as many exhibitors showed off their wares in a reduced footprint, but the smaller show floor area made it difficult to determine how the foot traffic compared with prior years.
That said, from the people with whom I spoke—attendees and exhibitors alike—the show was far from a bust. Most seemed pleasantly surprised by the good turnout, and in fact several of the exhibitors told me that they liked the constrained situation because, unlike the heyday experience of the pre-downturn era, the overwhelming majority of the people who visited their booths were there to do business.
So what was new?
Though I’m sure I’ll get a flock of lightning bolts for saying so, I saw nothing truly revolutionary, but a lot things heading in new directions…particularly among the software and productivity enhancement folks, where the vision of the totally connected worksite has come into sharper focus than even a year ago.
This emerging realization—that all aspects of a job can be conceived, performed, analyzed, and concluded as part of a digitally accessible continuum—brings particular gladness to my heart, partly because that has been our message for half a decade, but even more because we are in the process of producing our first technology only issue that will mail to our subscribers this coming May.
Are you interested? You bet you are. It’s an issue you are going to want to read from cover-to-cover, and then keep handy as you immerse yourself in the fundamental changes that are overtaking the way you do business.